How Project Failure Can Turn into Prison

I have been talking a lot about project failure lately, but I think there is still one area to cover.  We already know that when some projects go desperately wrong that people can lose their jobs or even die.  However, did you know that people could actually go to prison when projects go wrong?

That’s kind of radical, huh?  You think you are just doing your job, that you technically do not need to be certified for at this time, and then you are staring at a prison term.  You could even be looking at life in prison.  How could this happen you ask?  Well, let me tell you.

Do you recall the BP oil explosion in the Gulf of Mexico?  This was the largest oil disaster in US history.  It was bad enough that the environment suffered and that families all over the Gulf of Mexico were affected, but it got even worse. 

First, BP was fined about $25B by the USA.  Then they ended up paying a ton of money to families on the Gulf who were affected.  Additionally, they had to embark on a whole marketing campaign to try to maintain/regain their brand reputation.  On top of all of that, two BP employees were facing 11 counts of manslaughter for the people that died in the accident.  Eleven counts are like 40 to 50 years of prison time.  That is what you call stress.

Now, I am sure that when those two guys woke up that morning they weren’t thinking that they would blow up a rig and kill 11 people and ultimately be facing prison time.  However, they cut corners to try to pull in the schedule and save money and people died.  We live in a world where someone has to pay for that mistake.

Ultimately, the charges were dropped and they got lucky.  However, for a few years their stress levels had to be huge.  Additionally, can you even begin to think about the damage to their personal reputations and future career prospects?  One way or another, there will be lasting effects.

So, I don’t know about you, but as soon as people start looking at jail time, I feel the days of untrained, uncertified project managers should be over.  Lives are at stake.  Not just dollars, but lives.  Lawyers have to be certified, so do CPA’s and doctors.  Why then are we still allowing a world to exist where unqualified people can make a decision that kills others?

In the end, the project management profession is getting more and more serious.  If you don’t keep up with it you could be run over and devastated by unexpected incidents within your project.  Don’t think for 1 second that just because you work for a major corporation that they will protect you because they have your best interests in mind.  They will always protect the corporation first and project decisions can indeed affect your life personally.  This is not something you want to find out the hard way.

Your path to business success.